Curfew continues in Kashmir Valley

Curfew today remained in force in the entire Kashmir Valley which has been hit by a fresh wave of violence since Friday. Fifteen people have so far died in the Valley since Friday.

indiaUpdated: Aug 02, 2010 13:02 IST

PTI

Curfew on Monday remained in force in the entire Kashmir Valley which has been hit by a fresh wave of violence since Friday.

One person identified as Tariq Ahmed, who was hit by a teargas shell three days back in Bijbehara in south Kashmir, succumbed to his injuries last night, police sources said.

With his death, the total number of people who died in the Valley since Friday has gone upto 15 which includes eight persons who were killed in separate incidents on Sunday.

Security forces maintained a tight vigil across all the ten districts in Kashmir to maintain law and order, the sources said.

In New Delhi, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had met on Sunday night for the second time in a month to take stock of the situation.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister has appealed for calm and asked political parties and leaders to cooperate with the Government for return of peace in the state. He has vowed to deal sternly with law breakers and the perpetrators of violence, asserting that he will not allow them "to win".

Among those killed in protests on Sunday were four civilians who had died when a mob set afire a police station, where explosives and a LPG cylinder were kept, triggering a massive blast in Khrew area on outskirts of Srinagar city. A fifth person succumbed to injuries later in the night while another was in a very critical condition, police had said.

A mob had also laid siege to the police station, 20 kms from in Srinagar, and started pelting stones after which additional forces were rushed to the area who rescued the police personnel in the police station. Army personnel were involved in the rescue work.

Protesters had also attempted to set afire a police post in Khrew and take away the weapons. As the crowd refused to calm down, police fired at them leading to the death of a woman identified as Afrosa.

In other incidents, two persons were killed as police opened fire to disperse mobs who blocked a national highway on the city outskirts.

The situation in saffron-rich area of Pampore turned ugly when agitators blocked NH-1A at a number of places by erecting barricades from Pantha Chowk to Pampore, a police spokesman had said.

The mobs blocked the highway at Galandar, Kadlabal, Barsoo, Frastabal and Pampore and also torched office-cum-residence of a tehsildar. They set afire a police vehicle and damaged several others.

The protesters snatched weapons from local court guards and also indulged in heavy stone pelting on a police station and security personnel, the spokesman had said, adding the situation turned worse when suspected terrorists fired on the personnel from amongst them.